Author of

Macaron Tutorial

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

I love, like, enjoy, many people and many things in this life but if there is one thing that I live for on the weekends is when B. comes home from playing music and we sit on the bed and geek out for hours about all sorts of topics. Photography, films, history, and often times, food. Before we know, it's three o'clock in the morning (not his bedtime at all) and we go to sleep with growling stomachs and visions of sugar plums. Especially when we geek out about macarons. Especially when they are Peanut Butter and Jelly, Lemon Meringue Pie and Banana Caramel Macarons.

We were recently putting together a care package for a friend in town and we started brainstorming about what to include. Macarons, are always first on the list for some reason, eheh! I was looking for flavors I had not done before and he was looking to recreate some of his favorites. In the end, our friend S. received 2/3 of the Daring Bakers challenge delivered right to her front steps. From the look on her face, I knew I'd be repeating these flavors over again.

Bill's go-to breakfast is a bagel with peanut butter and jelly and turning this into a macaron was very easy. I used half almond and half peanuts for the shells and filled those with a teaspoon each of peanut butter and homemade raspberry jelly.

One of my favorite desserts is lemon meringue pie and after coniving on the best way to make this into a macaron, I finally settled on keeping the shells all almonds and adding the zest of one lemon to the batter. I filled the insides with homemade lemon curd and a teaspoon of freshly made Swiss meringue.

One of my husband'd favorite snacks when he comes home from playing music is to cut up a banana and drizzle it with Salidou, the homemade salted butter caramel sauce that I always keep handy in the fridge. For the macarons I simply mashed a whole banana and mixed it with the leftover from theTaffy Apples I posted yesterday. Once cooled and naturally thickened a bit, it was easy to pipe on the macarons shells and sandwich them.

I've known about this month challenge since this summer when Amy emailed with concerns about doing macarons for the Daring Bakers. We covered all types of questions from aging the egg whites, drying the macs before baking to food coloring and how to best incorporate flavors. I volunteered a phone macaron making session and guided her over the phone while she baked my tried and true recipe. In the end she felt most comfortable with the version she knew best, Claudia Flemming's, which brought on my most common comment about macarons: if you find a recipe that works for you, stick to it, no matter whose it is, especially if you are new to macarons and don't make them that often.

Amy, thank you for the fun phone macaron making session and it was a pleasure helping out with some of your questions!

I'm glad I tried a new recipe for macarons and did not have any problems with it, probably because I've been making them for 15 years so I know what to expect. I will however stick to the recipe I use all the time, for no other reason that it is engrained in my DNA right now!

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

Macarons, from Claudia Flemming' The Last Course: The Desserts Of Gramercy Tavern.

Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.Cool on a rack before filling.

For the PB&J Macarons:- Replace half the amount of almonds with finely ground unsalted roasted peanuts.- Once cooled, fill the shells with a dollop of peanut butter (either smooth or crunchy) and jam.

For the Lemon Meringue Macarons:- Fill the shells with a teaspoon or so of freshly made lemon curd- Add a teaspoon or so of Swiss meringue. (I made half the recipe)

For the Caramel Banana Macarons:- Mixed one smashed banana with half the quantity of toffee sauce I made for the dipped crabapples.

I have to tell you - your secret squirrel tip on how to age the egg whites is my all time favorite, favorite tip EVER! It's the closest I've ever come to even remotely getting the macarons to come out.

Though I wasn't able to make the challenge recipe work, I've been told by many fellow DBers that your method is the one to try. So when I give macarons another go, I'll be turning to you! Thanks in advance for helping me down this difficult culinary road....

Gorgeous Macaroons, and delicious flavours..Honest your recipe is the best, I tried it before and it was my first time doing macaroons they came perfect. The challenge recipe didnt work with me at all I tried three batches and it didn't work, I am going to do a new batch today using your recipe....which is the best...thanks for sharing it.

Thank you for including the link to your macaron article! I've heard good things about it but could never find it.

I had no success what so ever with my two attempts at making the DB recipe and am just heart broken because I was so excited about this month's challenge. But! I'm going to give it another go with your recipe...third time's the charm!

Wow, talk about macaron heaven! I adore macarons - and you have just put a handful of my favorites together in one post. I'm definitely a PB&J girl, love lemon meringue pie and always have an extra jar of Salidou in my cupboard. Which is exactly what I'm about to grab for a snack right now. With a banana, thanks to you and your hubby for the divine idea!

I tried the challenge recipe, but I have to admit that your ingredient proportions and techniques were my saving grace on this one. Thank you! And the peanut butter and jelly macs look divine... Since I have a tiny sliver of macaron confidence at this point, I'll definitely give them a try.

Thanks so much for your tried and true recipe, by the way! While Claudia Fleming's recipe wasn't a complete flop for me, yours worked like a charm! It feels so good to have succeeded with these tricky little sweets :)

Dang, I want that banana caramel! I made some for some tarts a while back, but never thought of using it in macarons. Your macarons are gorgeous, as always! And I'm with you - the bf and I geek out (generally about geeky things though :P ) and it's generally my favorite part of a weekend with him.

Hi HelenA big thank you for your generosity in giving everyone advice on macaron making. As you can expect everyone was eagerly anticipating your macs and you did not disappoint! They look delicious. Especially the PBJ ones. By the way your dog is gorgeous!

Hi Helen! Your love for macarons and your creativity with the flavor combinations is inspiring. Like many others, I struggled with the challenge recipe and had much better luck with yours. Still have some kinks to iron out, but I want to thank you for giving me the confidence to keep trying!

Anonymous: I did not publish your comment. Writing in caps simply means that you are yelling. I don't see where that would be appropriate. To say that the recipe given by the host is a bad one is not appropriate either since it worked fine for many Daring Bakers.

These look wonderful, I am sad that I couldn't participate in this month's challenge, but you have inspired me to make these at another point. Would you mind if I used your ideas? Lemon meringue pie is also one of my favorites, do you have recipe for a classic one that you follow? I would love any suggestions you have.

Helen,You will continue to provide my inspiration in my quest to create the perfect macaron! I tried your recipe and it did work better for me, but my oven has issues and I need to "practice my French kissing" a bit longer. I thanked you on my blog, but wanted to stop by and see your latest creations and flavors. What beautiful, incredible desserts you share with the world!

I used the coffee buttercream you used in your Opera macarons for this challenge. I also made cinnamon roll macarons. Thank you for posting so many variations and tutorials on macarons. If I ever decide to make macarons again, I will try out one of your tried-and-true recipes. Thanks again!

Everytime I see a new amazing flavor of macaron on your wonderful blog I decide that it is going to be the one I try when I make my first macarons. Thank you so much for the continuing inspiration. I have a question, however. I am pretty sure you have said in the past that macarons can be made ahead and frozen. Do you freeze them filled or do you have to freeze the shells separately and then fill them closer to serving time. I am going to make some for an event next week, but would love to be able to make them ahead. Thank you for inspiring me to tackle this, I can't wait to see how they come out.

OMG! They look so great and delicious! I had one try with a recipe that did not do it for me (the Ganache was great, the shell a real disaster)... so I have been shy to make some more... but your recipe and pictures have convinced me to try again. My children will love them! We ALWAYS, ALWAYS get some while in Paris.....so I'll try to make some now that we are in Philadelphia. Merci!

Love, love love the flavors you chose! They all look just gorgeous! I have to tell you that I tried 3 different recipes for these and yours was the only one that gave me pretty, frilly feet! You are the Goddess of Macarons! :D

Of course I'm swooning over all three, but the lemon meringue? Nice. I can now see how I might get a bit obsessive over the flavor combos. Thanks for your guidance. I swear I camped out here for 3 days.

Your macarons look terrific! Also, thank you for the advice during this challenge. I was quite frustrated since this was my first time making macarons. The basic recipe is four ingredients... How hard can it be? I sure found out. :-) Thanks for the help!

I have fallen in love with making macarons and thanks to your recipes I am actually good at it! And now you inspire with your flavorings! I love all of them and I learn so much each time I pop over here! Yum! These are all perfect! Lucky friend!

Love your post, your flavors and your giving personality! I used your recipe directions for my macaroons and sent my readers to your page for it! Thanks a million times for all your tips and great photos, they sure helped me through this challenge!

Helen, Queen of the Macarons, I pay homage to you for showing me the beautiful ways of the macaron. he he. Seriously though. I am so glad I found your blog a couple years ago. I love the macarons and I love your recipe. I will return to that recipe once more. It works the best for me.

They look lovely:) I've actually never tasted macaroons before. I heard of them for the first time just a few months ago on someone's blog. I'd love to try making them but I wouldn't even know if they came out right since I'm not familiar with them.

Oh oh oh! What I love about coming here is that you never just give me ONE flavor :) I have THREE to choose from?! Lemon meringue please :) I'm not sure I've ever beheld anything so beautiful and tempting as to make my mouth water (crazy for lemon). I like that squashed meringue look to it too. How amazing was THAT to eat? Pretty amazing, I bet. *sigh*

I had baked 2 trays of sucessful macaroon with beautiful thick feet under each one. But I realised that the surface of the macaroon have a few tiny bubble holes which causes not smooth surface. Why is it so? Is it the white egg is not to the glossy stage or have i over beat the egg white. Kindly advise on this.. Thanks

Helen, you will not believe how much I love, love, love your macaron posts!

My cousins and I were looking through my cookbooks and they said, "What is a macaron?" And I had to explain what it was to them, and then show them a photo of it.

I went to the first place where I knew that I was bound to find sexy-looking macarons... This site!

Lately, I have been super busy with life and everything and have lost time to even comment on every site that I go on, but I have to say you are truly inspiring and have always done such a great job with your posts that I really needed to say thank you because you are my go-to site for any macaron and any sophisticated, sexy-looking French recipes.

P.S. My cousins who can't cook or bake for their life are new fans of you and are truly addicted to your site now. I think it was your lovely photography that got them....

ok i've had ENOUGH of seeing macaroons all over the place and thinking "no, i am too scared to make them"... i will make them. my next project, definitely. i love the sound of the banana version - delightful!

Such an easy recipe and definitely the most simple I've found. I'm going to try the banana one tomorrow. One part I don't exactly understand is "Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches." does it mean that you divide the remaining almond in half and combine like you did with the first third? Just want to be sure because I've already messed up a batch before haha :)

I came across your lemon meringue macaroons photo on pinterest, when I clicked through it did not lead me here but to a site that has apparently been stealing your content, both words & photos. As a fellow blogger I thought I'd let you know. It is here: http://sibirochka-favorites.blogspot.com/2011/05/it-takes-all-sorts-of-macarons-to-make.html.